Pine trees, golden lights, gl眉hwein, wooden cabins, lots of schnaps and a bunch of jolly, merry people. Those are the ingredients for a visit to Cologne and its numerous Christmas markets. I took the kind invitation of hotel Mondial am Dom as the perfect opportunity to finally reunite with one of my besties. She moved away to Australia one and a half year ago, and I was more than excited to meet up for a short citytrip! Rox and I reunited at the Thalys counter in Brussels-Midi, which was the start of a fun Christmas weekend in Cologne…We boarded our Thalys – destionation: K枚ln Hauptahnhof – and about 1 hour and 40 minutes later arrived in the heart of the city. Before I could say ‘Google Maps’ we reached our hotel: The Mondial am Dom, a modern hotel that clearly understands the meaning of location! location! location!. Based right near the Dom, a 5-minute walk from the station and a stone’s throw away from the biggest shopping streets. Oh and surrounded by Christmas markets everywhere you look!
Germany isn’t particulary known for its warm, exotic temperatures, but the rain and cold didn’t stop the city from having a jolly time! The christmas lights all around gave off a warm and inviting vibe, and the various christmas markets spread all over the city were full of people having a good time. I highly recommend visiting Cologne during the holiday season if you’re a Christmas person. This is also a great place to score original and handmade presents and have one too many apfel schnaps!
Besides the obligatory visit to the Christmas markets, there’s also plenty of other stuff to do while in Cologne. This German city is surprisingly good at soothing your shopping cravings – stores such as Zara, H&M, Gina Tricot, a very calm Primark, &Other Stories and so on are already hosting some amazing sales deals! And of course there’s also the Belgisches Viertel to discover some amazing smaller shops. Cultural cravings can be satisfied at the numerous museums: from the ever so pleasant Museum Ludwig (the Ludwig goes Pop exhibit is showing until mid-January) over the Chocolate museum (of course I checked that one of my to-do list as well).
Hurry up and book yourself a trip to Cologne if you still want to embrace the merry Christmas spirit of the city, or take this post as a reminder for next holiday season. The Thalys takes you to the city in no time and for a great price, and there are plenty of great hotels around. I can safely recommend the Hotel Mondial am Dom, my stay was lovely and relaxing and I’ll be definitely coming back!
Mooie foto’s, Keulen is echt een leuke stad om te bezoeken!
lovely report!
Oooh looks like so much fun !
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Wauw ziet er prachtig uit
Ahh I want to go too!!!
Ahh Duitsland is echt de place to be voor Kerstmarkten! Heel mooie foto’s! Enjoyyy!
XO IMKE